Time Heals
by Lupin's Mistress
Summary: Hermione moves in with Remus to help him out after the loss of his wife. What happens when she gets attached to not only Teddy but Remus as well? And what does Remus feel for her? postDH. R & R.


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Time Heals

Author's note:

This is only my second one-shot. I don't usually write one-shots but I was inspired to write this. Anyhow, it is of Remus/Hermione pairing as well as some Remus/Tonks. This is based post-DH. I didn't feel like Remus and Tonks' deaths were really that big a deal because J.K. Rowling didn't explain how they died so this began as just the scene but then I decided why not keep Remus alive and make him fall for someone else. I never liked the Hermione/Ron pairing so who best to have with him. I have changed a few things obviously and the whole Loup Garou thing was just something I wanted to involve. So just enjoy. I wouldn't mind any reviews either!

I would also love to point out that I don't believe time will heal any wounds. It is something childish to believe. You see what I think is that within time we will be able to cope with it and I really hope the end shows this. Not that Remus was okay with Tonk's death but that he accepted it and that it was love which helped him accept it but not fully heal about all of this.

Summary:

Hermione moves in with Remus to help him out after the loss of his wife. What happens when she gets attached to not only Teddy but Remus as well? And what does Remus feel for her?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did I wouldn't have killed Remus off or for that matter Severus.

The problem is not the problem. The problem is the attitude about the problem. – Anonymous

Remus watched her fall. She was his wife, his mate, his light. The werewolf looked at Bellatrix. The vile woman stood laughing in front of the fallen Tonks; she turned her wand at him. Remus thought of letting her kill him but then he thought of Teddy, he needed to live for Teddy's sake. Instead of allowing his wand to drop like previously planned—he had wanted to die with his love—he took a stand and they began to duel.

"Don't you want to join your half-blood whore?" Bellatrix asked, her laugh still intact; her eyes twinkling in a half crazed merriment.

Remus said nothing; he wouldn't rise to her wiles. Teddy, he must think about Teddy; Teddy who would need a parent—he dodged the cruciatus—Teddy who would need him to talk about his mother—he threw a spell at her and she fell back—Teddy who was so innocent and knew nothing of war, of Voldemort—Bellatrix got up. Why had she come? Another spell came his way—why couldn't she have listened? Bellatrix hit him with the cruciatus; the pain was nothing to losing her; to the pain in his heart, the hole it left behind. It was like James and Lily. They never had enough time. They never saw Harry grow up, see many of his first. He hated that Tonks would miss everything that would happen with their son. Their son.

"Is the little werewolf scared of a snake?" Bellatrix said, tauntingly. She had just made a large snake appear and it was heading towards Remus.

No, Remus wasn't scared, shocked, maybe. Why had she sent a snake after him? "Vipera Evanesco" he muttered. The snake vanished.

"Is that all you can do?" he asked.

Bellatrix fumed. In the time it took her to get angry he had already stunned her.

"I could kill you." Remus said, talking to the body on the ground, "what would the point be? Taking a life, it would just be another life and it would never bring her back. You take fun in killing those that I love, those that were once your family. I'll let you live though, but cross my path again and maybe I won't."

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A Month Later

Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all. – William Goldman

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"Why did you kiss me then?" Ron asked, angrily.

"I meant to kiss you on the cheek but you turned and….look, it was an accident. Ron, you are my friend but nothing more." Hermione said.

Ron shook his head, "I really though you cared about me Hermione Jane Granger." He then walked out of the room.

Hermione sunk down on a chair. "How could he accept me, if he knew the truth?" She muttered to herself. "It is for his own good."

In an after thought Hermione remembered another reason for not wanting to be with Ron. Hermione had always known she wanted children. One or two, maybe even three and she would never be able to be Ron if she wanted this. He was a human but she wasn't a full human. Hermione would never be able to mate with him but only those of her kind. She was bred after all not bitten.

Hermione stood up and walked out of the kitchen in 12 Grimmauld Place. Kreacher came up to her as she headed to the stairs. "Miss," he said. "There is mail, there is."

"Oh, great," She said and took the letters offered to her. The house elf gave a bow and then with a crack was gone.

Hermione had gotten quite used to having Kreacher around. She, Harry, Ron, and Ginny had moved in after the war. Mrs. Weasley was sometimes there, inviting them for dinner at the Burrow which none of them ever declined but Hermione. Hermione had started to drift from her friends and what—she supposed—was as close to a family as she could have. Her parents were long gone, not that anyone knew this. They had died on the same night she was born. She was a pureblood through and through a little less pure in the wizarding world than some but that wasn't of any matter. However she had another family, she didn't need to deny this. Her family were the werewolves. How she had kept her identity hidden for all those years was beyond her; but then she wasn't an ordinary werewolf. She was Loup Garou. She could change at command; of course she needed to change on the night of the full moon but that was of no matter.

Hermione,

It has come to my attention that a certain Remus Lupin is isolating himself from everything that cares for him. I felt it would be best if someone got to him, talked to him. Help him out; I know his loss has been bad and I fear for little Teddy. Andromeda is suffering from her own grief. Losing a husband and daughter; she is of no help to him. I would help him myself but Hogwarts needs me, at this time, and I wish he has someone. You are best suited.

Professor McGonagall

Hermione sighed. She could help, she was sure of it but what would she have to say to a man who had lost—what had possibly been—the love of his life? Before answering the letter in affirmative, Hermione turned to the rest of her letters. Three more remained unopened, as it were.

Lady Hermione,

Will you be joining us in a week?

Short and simple without even a signature, Hermione smiled. She didn't need a signature to know who had written to her. Darren had always been short spoken. She would join them if she could, for the moment they needed no answer. Darren should have known better than to ask her something as such.

Hermione frowned at the next letter and set it alit without even opening the heavy, yellow envelope. It was from the ministry. They had been pestering her from the moment everything about the final battle was taken care of. They wanted her to work for them, it didn't matter what field she chose, they just wanted her for the fame. To have the final third of the golden trio would be an accomplishment for them. The ministry had begun to get better and yet Hermione didn't want to work for them. Harry and Ron had annoyed her about this fact as well.

The next letter wasn't for Hermione so she left it on a table so that, hopefully, someone would get it. She couldn't very well go looking for Harry. She had other things to do, like getting to Remus Lupin's house and later to the twin's, no, George's shop.

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The house was small by all standards but it was enough. Tonks had thought so and so had he. They hadn't planned to have a big family. Now only he and Teddy remained. As small as it was Remus had not cleaned the house in a month. In fact, he could see the way the kitchen was a mess; bottles of butterbeer, lined up and covering an entire table; dirty dishes lying on the floor because there no longer was any space for them in the sink or the counter next to it. His room had even more dishes, those he hadn't bothered to move to the kitchen, some of them rested on his unmade bed, his bed had not been made in a long while. At night he just lost himself to nightmares on the dirty, stained sheets with the plates surrounding him.

Teddy was okay, or as okay as he could be with a father that wanted nothing more than to just die in the residue that was his home. In fact Teddy was the cleanest thing in the house. He alone was not a mess. He alone was taken care of by Remus. Remus himself was wearing the same clothes he had worn for a week; he had a small beard now for lack of shaving. His hair fell past his shoulders, messy, unkempt, with bunches of it together in knots. His hair looked almost as greasy at Severus Snape's for lack of cleanliness. He even had a small smell to him, the smell of someone that no longer cared.

When he opened the door on that gray Friday afternoon, after having fed Teddy—the only reason he had opened the door seeing as he was in the first floor, he wouldn't have bothered otherwise—Remus had been surprised to find Hermione Granger. However it wasn't the Hermione Granger he had known. She was different somehow, taller, grander perhaps.

"Remus Lupin," she said. "Give me that baby." And she had taken Teddy right out of his arms. "Go. Take a shower. That is the first thing you should do. How you can stand the smell is beyond me." She covered her nose with a tissue extracted from her purse. "I shall look after Teddy." She said, then, as if in an afterthought "maybe give him a bath in the sink as well."

Remus just stared at the woman in front of him. She was no longer his student, a girl. She was a woman. When she had changed into this he didn't know but he respected her for it. He walked up the stairs to the bathroom where he stripped his clothes and then entered the shower. His first thought was to wonder why he hadn't done this lately. The water falling upon his back cleansed him of much more than the dirt and grime accumulated with his loss of Tonks.

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"Your daddy sure has been a mess, hasn't he?" Hermione asked Teddy. He just garbled a few nonsense words.

Hermione giggled and then took him to small playpen. For her to be able to give him a proper bath—from his smell she gathered quick cleaning spells was all he had gotten from his father—she had to clean the kitchen. With the help of her wand the dishes were all sorted and began to wash themselves. Hermione then quickly removed all dust and grime from the furniture, floors, and books that sat on bookshelves all over the dinning room and drawing room. Soon after doing this Hermione found herself throwing out most of the food in the fridge. It was either starting to rot or already rotting. She was once more holding her tissue to her nose.

After finishing with the kitchen Hermione picked up Teddy and walked up the stairs, sending her dust and grime cleaning spells to the upstairs as well. Hermione heard the shower in the bathroom and smiled. At least he listened to her.

Teddy's room was a mess of toys, clothes, clean diapers, and other such baby things. She found herself putting everything in order manually while Teddy sat in his crib, watching her. Hermione hummed as she moved stuff around.

"There, much better." She smiled at Teddy. He reached up with his arms. Hermione smiled and picked him up.

The next room she cleaned with magic. Hermione found more dishes and sent them to be washed in the kitchen. Soon after she finished the room Hermione heard the shower turn off. She got a pair of Remus' robes out. She fixed them up for him so that they didn't look that shabby, she left them on his newly cleaned bed.

"Now it is time for a bath, mister." She murmured to Teddy who rested in her arms and looked up at her often. His amber eyes were just like that of his father; just like her eyes; a werewolf's eyes; one of the Homo lupus not of the Homo sapiens.

Hermione wondered if Remus knew his son was of his kind. He probably didn't. The trait wouldn't be shown until he was sixteen if no one showed him before hand. That was how it had been with her; it was how she had discovered the fact that she was adopted. Sometimes it was better to show them when they were younger, it would help so much more and if Remus denied it then she would help Teddy. Remus wasn't fit for this regardless. He wasn't of Loup Garou; he didn't know their ways. He had been bitten by a werewolf not born one.

Hermione bathed Teddy with an odourless soap so that he would smell of his sweet baby self. That smell would not bother her. Hermione had trained herself well enough to not lose her head in situations. She could control her powers, her metamorphosis and her attuned senses but sometimes it was too much, like when she had entered the house earlier. The smell had nearly driven her insane. How a werewolf like he could live with the smell was beyond her.

Teddy was dressed and napping by the time Remus rejoined them. He found Hermione lying on his couch with Teddy on top of her with his head in the crook of her neck. Teddy looked peaceful unlike the last few days and there was some sort of glow about the two of them. Hermione was looking over a book which she held above Teddy whom she had an arm around.

"Hermione," he said softly.

Hermione had smelt him coming down the stairs and then heard him walk towards her. She closed the book soon after he addressed her. She slowly and with much care pressed Teddy against her and held him to her as she stood up.

"Yes, Remus?" she looked straight at him.

"I wanted to thank you. The house looks just like when—" he stopped, they both knew what he was going to say.

Hermione walked towards the stairs. "She loved you and she was there because she loved you. Tonks never wanted you to practically ignore your child and to live in a pigsty, you are a werewolf, and didn't the smell bother you?"

Remus stared her, "the smell?" he asked. "Why would you ask that?"

Hermione neither answered or acknowledged he had spoken, she continued up the stairs and into Teddy's nursery where she put him into his crib and then covered him up with a blanket. Hermione leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Good night, little one." She kissed his forehead softly. "Yes, even your smell tells me what he most likely denies or dreads" she whispered.

Hermione walked out of the room and back to the drawing room. Remus sat on the couch she had previously sat on. His head was in his hands and he seemed preoccupied.

"I am such a bad father." He said. "I've been sitting here day after day just staring at pictures of her, remembering her and just doing nothing. I would attend to him when he cried or when he needed something and even then I barely paid him any attention." He gave a groan.

"It is alright but you should have let someone help you take care of him. I know it's painful but it would be easier if we all just had each other to comfort. I will stay here with you. I don't think I could handle Ron any longer. He will never understand. I have to head out to see George but I will be back with my stuff later. Is that alright? For me to stay with you until your grief is over?"

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Remus walked into the nursery after she had left. He looked down at his son and smiled. She had such a calming presence. There was something that had changed in her smell as well. Acceptance of a bigger part of herself, the question was what had she accepted. He looked down at his son.

"I wonder, are you like your mother, did you get her genes in being a metamorphmagus? Or are you a werewolf? Are you like me? I hope not."

Remus walked towards a near window. He wished Nymphadora was with him. His metamorphmagus witch who had seeked out his love for the longest time he could remember. Why hadn't he given into her, they could have had more time. Remus began to laugh; it was hollow with no true humour. Lily hadn't given into James the moment he asked her out, she hadn't for a long time and even then they fought a lot. They too hadn't had a lot of time. "Time is fleet but everyone should love in the time they have". Hadn't Sirius told him this once? Hadn't Sirius told him that the most important thing in life was to love and be loved in return? Part of loving was losing and he should have been glad to have loved and lost than never to have loved. Who had said that? Then again who had said that time heals all wounds? Time wouldn't heal his wound. Nothing would. Time had not healed the fact that James and Lily were gone; it hadn't healed the hole left by Sirius. Why would he suspect that this time it would heal the pain of losing Nymphadora?

The answer came to him; because you will love again.

A sigh escaped him and then a sob. Tears began to stream down his face. How could he love again without the fear of losing? Was the pain worth it? Did he not love Teddy?

Remus hated all these questions, questions that he just couldn't answer. He sunk to the ground and continued to cry. Maybe just sitting there weeping while his son was soundly asleep would help. Maybe this was all he needed to do and maybe he was wrong; time would heal his wounds and if not time then something else or, or someone else.

He stopped crying after a long hour and then he got up and washed his face in the bathroom and then he wondered, when seeing a calendar hanging in the hallway—when he walked back to the nursery—how close the full moon was.

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Hermione entered the house later that night. She heard someone walking back and forth on the floor above. She wondered what was on his thoughts, at the moment. Hermione took a small sniff; confusion, anger, deep pain. Hermione gave a small cough and set down her bags. She had gone shopping. His whole food stash had been thrown out and then blasted by her wand out in the garden—the smell had been too strong.

"When's the full moon?" was his first question once Hermione entered the nursery when she heard crying.

Remus had been changing the crying Teddy's diaper when she entered.

"In four days." Hermione said. "I would rather you take the wolfsbane and stay in your room than for you to change in the basement. I guess this must come to a discussion, mustn't it? I have a supply of wolfsbane you can take. It will be strong enough. Not that you will hurt me or Teddy. You would never hurt your own pup or for that matter another werewolf. Another Homo lupus though I don't know if you can be considered that. You were after all bitten not bred.

"You go through the pain while Teddy and I never will. He is Loup Garou. I can smell it off of him. I can see it in his eyes. He will not change until he is sixteen unless he chooses to change; unless he has the proper tutelage in a proper pack." Hermione spoke calmly not caring that Remus' anger was growing. She could handle him.

Remus finished changing Teddy and left him on the changing table and turned to face Hermione. "Loup Garou?" he said. "You are one of them. I have never met a bred werewolf, but you are one?"

"Yes. I didn't know it until I was sixteen and I changed during the full moon. I was so scared and I was going to approach you about it but then Lady Auriga came to me. She spoke to me about who I was. I am her niece, was. She died at Greyback's hand because she refused to join him with Voldemort. Greyback leads the bitten werewolves of course. He leads mostly those he bit himself and others but no bred wolves ever joined him. Most bred werewolves come from packs and clans already. The thing is we are much more powerful and he wanted that; the power."

Remus nodded. Hermione walked towards him and then passed him picking up Teddy. "His senses will not become as bad as mine are until he is seventeen. In fact he will only become a full werewolf when he is sixteen and even then he will only change on the first full moon after his birthday and then he will have the choice of changing for that year but after that we have to change on every full moon and any other time we want." She smiled softly at the baby.

Remus didn't know what to say. He now knew why she was so regal looking, so grand. He could sense—now that he searched for it—the power she held and the strength she had. No doubt she would beat him if he and she were to fight.

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Remus gave a painful scream. He enjoyed the pain, he wanted the pain. This was his first change since she had died and he welcomed the change in his muscles, the way his bones changed shape and the growth of his tail. Hermione watched this. She was holding Teddy in her arms feeling jumpy. The moon always made her this way and she would be changing as soon as she knew Remus was alright.

He howled to the moon.

Hermione smiled as he approached her and Teddy. Hermione took Teddy's hand and set it on his father's head. Moony gave a small growl that sounded slightly like some sort of wolfish laugh. Hermione grinned when Moony nuzzled his son.

Hermione stood and carried Teddy out of the room, after a moment. She couldn't control herself any longer, she had to change; she couldn't stay as a human for this long on the night of the full moon.

"Go to sleep, little one" Hermione whispered to Teddy, setting him down on his crib.

Hermione watched him as he gave a small yawn. She smiled as he closed his eyes and then right before he was asleep she changed, her clothes shredding and falling to the ground. Hermione was a small white wolf with a black ear and a black tail. Her eyes were larger but still amber with a more golden glint to them. She gave a small whimper and then walked out of the nursery.

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Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfil them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves – Dierre de Chardin

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Hermione did not move out of Remus' house not even after Remus had gotten over Tonks. He could still not talk about her without getting the odd tear in his eye but he was coping much better. Teddy was learning to talk and said odd little words. It had hurt Remus when his first word was not dad, or daddy but mommy and headed towards Hermione. He often spoke of his mother to him so it figured he would speak out the word his father said to him the most.

Hermione had denied the title saying, "no" to him every time he called her so until Remus told her, "you're as good a mother as he will ever get. He will know no other." This had made her blush a deep red but since then had not chastised Teddy for his error.

"Mommy, up." Teddy said to her as she walked by his play pen one morning.

Hermione picked him up. "Breakfast?" she asked him.

He nodded. Hermione smiled and pulled him against her. He was as much her son as she was his mother. He nuzzled against her, lovingly. Teddy now had curly, sandy hair. The curls, Hermione guessed, came from Tonks and her natural look. Hermione had only seen her like that once because the witch so preferred the bubble gum pink, spiky hair. He still had the eyes of a werewolf in human form. His skin was rather pale which seemed to come from both his parents. It was because teddy looked a little like Hermione—the two of them having the same eyes and the fact that Teddy had curls even if his hair was a shade lighter than Hermione's—that some people had often complimented her on her baby, on her child. It didn't help that he called her 'mommy' and was often—even in his father's presence—cuddling up to her.

Hermione sat him down on his high chair and then set a plate with scrambled eggs in front of him and pumpkin juice next to that. She sat down right next to him with her own place and cup of tea, leaving eggs enough for Remus and tea in a pot for him to take.

Hermione fed Teddy most of the time because otherwise most of his food didn't ever reach his mouth.

"Daddy!" Teddy wiggled his arms around until Remus had given him a good morning kiss before turning to Hermione and kissing her on the forehead. He did this regularly. It was the usual morning routine.

Remus grabbed his breakfast and then sat down on Teddy's other side.

"I will come with Teddy for lunch today." Hermione told Remus.

Remus had gotten himself a small bookstore and café in Diagon Alley which he managed most of the day. Hermione sometimes went and helped out with Teddy along. He enjoyed being in the bookstore looking through the few picture books and sometimes reading one with his father or Hermione. Hermione didn't work other than the writing she did for the odd magazine here or there. She had begun freelance writing a month after moving in with Remus when the Quibbler asked her for her rendition of the final battle. Luna had wanted Harry to do it but after he declined followed by the decline of Neville and then Ron until Hermione agreed to write her a short story about what had happened. The story soon became rather long and it ended up being cut into five different parts printed in five editions of the quibbler. Soon after Hermione was offered small writing jobs here or there for different magazines; it was never anything as serious as describing the war but it dealt more with short stories. Remus had even talked Hermione into maybe writing a book if not a large work of fiction just a children's book. Hermione hadn't shown it to him yet but she had written a ten page children's story that she had read to Teddy. Teddy had loved it. She would dedicate it to him and Remus if she ever managed to publish it which she was trying to do. Hermione wanted to surprise Remus with the book if she got it done. He would be the first to receive a copy. Her Loup Garou friend, Darren, was working on it. He had great connections for this sort of stuff.

"That's great." He said. "I'll see you later, then." He gave a kiss to Teddy on the cheek and looked to Hermione. He then leaned down and kissed the corner of her mouth.

Hermione blushed and looked at him in surprise. His face was flushed as well as he gave her shoulder a squeeze and then he apparated. Hermione spaced out for the next few minutes and did not respond until Teddy gave a cry of, "Mommy!"

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"There you two are and I was starting to wonder where you had gone off to." Remus said when Hermione entered the bookshop with Teddy in her arms.

Hermione grinned at him and set Teddy down. He ran towards his father and hugged him around the legs. Soon he was his father's arms, being twirled around the room. Hermione watched them with a smile. In the last year Hermione had begun to see a big change in Remus. He was smiling more, he was playing with his son more, he was more like himself and yet happier.

He set the boy down on the counter and smiled at him. "Hermione, I don't know what I would have done with out you back then." He said. "You were such a great help and still you stay. It was brought to my attention by Harry today. He stopped by to pick up something for Ginny, and I wanted to let you know you are free to go. I'm okay now and I—as much as I love having you around—think that it isn't fair to you to keep you when you can go on and have a great future."

Hermione hadn't expected this. He was pretty much asking her to leave him and Teddy. She couldn't do that. She loved Teddy as her own, she had practically raised him. No, she would never leave them. Hermione liked the way her life was, she wanted nothing more than to keep her life the way it was.

"I would never leave. Not you or Teddy. I love Teddy as if he were my own. I am as much as his mother as Tonks was. I love him and I would hate to leave him, I like the way things are." She said, watching him.

Remus gave a sigh of relief, "when Harry said that you needed to get your life back, that taking care of my child was something that was holding you back I felt so bad."

Hermione frowned, "Harry said that?"

Why would Harry have spoken of her like that when he knew that she loved Teddy and that she would do anything to stay with him, why had he said that? Was it to do with Ron? She and Ron had plenty of fights over the past two years, with Ron trying to get to go out with him. The thing was Hermione had never really felt anything for Ron and for another thing she knew Ron and he would never accept that she was a werewolf, Loup Garou. He was prejudiced in the worst of ways. Hermione had seen it many times with Ron. The way he treated house elves alone gave her an idea of how he would react. Ron hadn't liked Remus too much and had been wary of him after hearing that he was a werewolf. The only reason he accepted Remus was because of Harry and even then he had thought Tonks crazy for falling for him. Lately he had been pestering her to go out with him, even going as far as to ask Harry to talk to her. Ginny often did the same thing and it bothered her that they were on his side.

"Yes, he did, why?" Remus asked.

"It doesn't sound like him, does it? I mean he knows how much I care about Teddy. He asked me once if I wanted to go work in the ministry or something and he asked me why I hadn't moved out yet and I told him that I loved living like I was, I told him I couldn't see myself living alone with out the two of you. He knew and yet he brings this up." Hermione frowned.

Remus didn't know what to say to it. It did sound odd that something like this would happen. What was he to say to something like this; it was at this moment the door opened.

"Darren," Hermione said.

"I did it. Someone was interested in it and he took it and, well, I did it." Darren said.

He was a tall man with broad shoulders, he could have looked intimidating with just a small change of expression but at the moment his blue eyes twinkled in excitement.

"You did?" Hermione asked, astonished.

Remus looked from one to the other in confusion and then shared a look with his son. He couldn't place it but something bothered him about watching the way Darren looked at Hermione and the happiness she had gathered around her from the moment he entered the room. Was it jealousy? No, it couldn't be. He didn't like her that way; hadn't he convinced himself many a time that he didn't feel anything but some sort of concern for her as a friend would. Yes, that was all. He shook himself and turned back to Hermione and her friend whom he had yet to meet.

"Remus this is a friend from the pack. His name's Darren. He's been helping me with some stuff but you'll know all about that soon enough." Hermione told him.

"Nice to meet you, Darren," Remus said.

Darren only nodded. "I shall see you soon then, Hermione?"

"Yes, of course. I shall come by to discuss things." Hermione said with a nod.

He left without saying anything but giving a curt bow of his head. Remus found it a little odd that he would do this but then he had never been introduced into the goings on of Hermione and the pack of Loup Garou she belonged to. This, he realized, was something he should have been a little aware of. It wasn't like he didn't have any right to know. He was a werewolf wasn't he? Teddy had met some of the pack, why hadn't he done the same? He had been too busy to do much about it but having seen Darren now he was interested. How high in the werewolf hierarchy was Hermione? Who really was Darren?

Questions, questions; every time he began thinking about something a mystery would ensue. Most of his questions remained unanswered most of the time and would lay forgotten before long but this time he intended to get answers.

"Mommy," Teddy said.

He hated to be ignored. His father had been off in his own thoughts and his mother had been conversing with the two men. Teddy did not find this at all amusing.

Hermione chuckled at the pouting look he had given her and the way his eyes were slightly moist. She reached for him and wrapped her arms around him. He was hers. Hermione wouldn't know what to do without the small toddler. He had gotten a hold on her that no else had ever had and she never wanted it to be extinguished even though she knew one day he would need to know she was not his mother. Remus had accepted the fact that she was the acting mother of his son but Hermione had often found herself wondering if he ever felt hurt about it. If he ever thought it was hurting his late wife's memory; her being there and pretending to be his mother, even though, the feelings were real and true.

Teddy gave a small sniffle and buried his face in Hermione's hair. It was still somewhat bushy but Teddy loved it that way. Hermione smiled down at the boy and looked towards Remus.

"Remus, do you think Ron had anything to do with Harry and his talk with you?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, why?"

Hermione gave a small shrug, how could she explain the fact that Ron was head over heels in love with her and that he was trying very hard to get her to see "sense" as he put it.

"We should be getting lunch." She said, instead.

Remus nodded, wondering what Ron had to do with anything. He had seen the youngest male Weasley only twice since the night of the battle, both times had been at a dinner at the Burrow. Remus had noticed the way Hermione stayed away from him and how sometimes the red head would try to get Hermione to talk to him. Remus had also noticed Molly's supposed inconspicuous seating arrangements. Hermione had ended up between himself and Ron on both occasions and after a few minutes had managed to get as far as the other end of the table in some way or another. Come to think of it, he now understood why Hermione had been told to help in the kitchen after the food was consumed. Molly had probably set herself on Hermione with a talk. No wonder she had been in a bad mood by the time they left and even Teddy had suffered. He would be watching out for other clues to see what was going in that font.

He, Hermione, and Teddy left the shop closed and walked towards a newly opened pub a few shops down. _The Dancing Dragon _was owned by Draco Malfoy. He had bought it for monetary business and was rarely seen anywhere near it. A young woman named Lyra took care of the place; many people reckoned she was Draco's mistress or something of the like. Lyra was well off; she received fifty percent of every profit and was in essence the owner. No one would ever believe she was just a bartender and waitress when they looked at her bank account.

"Hello, Lyra." Hermione said.

"Hello, dear, any table will do." Lyra said, grinning.

Hermione nodded and took a table near the entrance. Remus sat down after a nod of hello to Lyra. Teddy in his arms had given a small wave. For a two year old Teddy was very friendly and got along with strangers very well. Everyone was his friend. Hermione and Remus both knew it was a good thing but also a bad thing. What if he encountered the wrong person?

"What will it be dears?" asked Lyra a few minutes later, patting Teddy on the head and caressing his cheek. He giggled.

"Fish and chips will do and a butterbeer." Hermione said.

"Yes, the same for me, Teddy will want some pumpkin juice." Remus said.

Teddy usually ate a bit from Hermione's plate and a bit from Remus, loving the attention he got while he ate.

While Lyra was bringing their food Hermione looked out the window while holding Teddy in her lap, facing her. Remus was looking around the pub. It was a good place to go have a meal with family or friends. With lime walls and old rustic chandeliers the pub had an atmosphere he enjoyed for his family. His family; was this what they were? Family. Teddy was his son but Hermione, what was she to him? Before he could answer any of his questions however, hearing Hermione's voice made him get back to the real world and out of his head.

"Of course," Hermione said. "I haven't seen you, either of you, in a while."

Remus realized Harry, Ron, and Ginny had just joined them. He gave them each a smile and a greeting just as their food arrived. As soon as Lyra asked for their orders Ginny managed to take a full ten minutes ordering what would be a feast before Harry and Ron looking on in amazement, matched her in their orders.

"You seem hungry." Hermione said, slyly.

"Famished," Ginny said.

Hermione laughed.

Remus, remembering he had wanted to find more clues about whatever it was that was happening with Ron and Hermione watched Ron with interest. Ron seemed to be always staring towards Hermione and trying to catch her eye which she always avoided. Ginny and Harry seemed to be closer than ever and often looked towards Ron and then Hermione. Something was going on and he wanted to know what. It was halfway through the meal when he finally had a small insight.

"Mom wants you to come to dinner one of these nights." Ginny said, conversationally.

"Ah, well, tell your mother she and I have come to our understandings." Hermione said, calmly, but Remus could smell the anger and the outrage coming off of her.

Ginny took a sip from her water and then said, "She's sorry, you know. Hermione, you always knew what everyone expected of you. You knew what everyone thought. George once placed a bet on it, even, with Charlie."

"I'm sorry but it drives me insane that, that woman can think to boss me around. I am not her daughter and neither will I ever be. I do not need her to tell me what to do."

Hermione had gotten an edge to her voice and her eyes were golden. She seemed to regain herself after a moment because her eyes went back to normal. Remus had been watching her throughout it all and was proud to see how controlled she was of herself.

Ginny gave a sigh, "she just wants what is best for you."

"What is best for me?" Hermione said. This was followed by a hollow laugh. "What is best for me? I know what I want, I always have and she can't tell me what it is. I am—" she stopped. "I am my own person."

Hermione gave herself a shake; she had almost revealed to them what she had hid for so long. How the conversation had gotten to this, she had no idea, but she wanted it to go back to something else. Hermione hated talking about Molly Weasley and what Molly expected of her. Molly had taken Hermione aside on many different occasions to talk. Everyone one of these talks had been about Hermione settling down with Ron or maybe George. Molly had also made it clear that she wouldn't allow Hermione to just go around working. As she had often put it, "a woman's place is in the kitchen and taking care of a home."

"Why do you bother, Ginny?" Harry asked. "I'm with Hermione on this one, actually. She has a home and she has what she wants. You do, right?"

Looking at Remus, Hermione smiled. "Yes, I do. I need no Weasley to take care of me," and she suddenly turned to Ron, "especially one that goes whining to his mother when I turn them down."

"I'll go pay, shall I?" Remus asked.

Hermione nodded, getting up. Teddy, sitting next to her reached for her. Hermione picked him up, kissing him on the forehead. "I have everything I want, he's right here." She said to Ginny. "I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to get me away from the things I love. Ron, I love you like a brother. Harry, thank you for everything, I know you just care about me. Ginny, please stop pestering me about this."

Hermione walked away with Teddy, towards Remus who waited for them and who put a hand on the small of her back and smiled at her before whispering in her ear, "Being a little wolfish, haven't we?"

"Oh, yes." She grinned at him.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny were confused at the exchange. Ginny, wondering if Hermione was right and she should just stop trying to follow her mother's orders; Ron, accepting, finally, that he would never be more than friend to Hermione; Harry, wondering if Hermione had been referring to Teddy, Remus, or both.

-

-

Love is like war; easy to begin. Hard to end. – Proverb

-

-

Teddy and I went out, I'll be home by lunch time. I have a surprise for you.

-Hermione

Remus considered the note. What could she possibly have to surprise him with? Over the last month Remus had begun to see Hermione differently. He had started to accept, as well, how much his feelings had changed for the younger witch. First there had been respect and then admiration and now it wasn't something as lowly as like. He had liked her before, hadn't he? Now it was something not quite as large as love but right up there. He highly esteemed her, but those weren't the right words. Caring for her was more of what he did but he still couldn't figure how to put his feelings into words; having failed every time Remus had given up on given them a name and instead decided on just feeling them.

"Maybe I shall make lunch." He said to himself.

Remus had never done a lot of cooking. He knew he wasn't the greatest cook but he had been watching Hermione do it for a long while and he had cooked Tonks dinner once. No, he had tried to cook dinner. It had ended up in the two of them going out to a muggle restaurant. It had made for an interesting night but not one that ended in disappointment for the two of them.

Being alone wasn't something that Remus was accustomed to anymore. Once, he had lived alone with no one else to depend on or to think about. Once, he had given up on human contact and barely ever did anything with anyone except for the odd thing. Lately he hadn't been alone for more than five or ten minutes. Hermione or Teddy were always around, or his employees in the bookstore. Now, he was sitting in his bedroom holding a blue piece of parchment and wondering what he would do for the morning.

"This is rather unnerving." He remarked to himself. "Maybe I can read something. No, it's too quiet to read. Maybe I could go for a walk, or I could go visit someone." Being in the empty house was a little odd. He needed to do something or he would go crazy.

"Yes, a crazed werewolf, just what everyone needs."

And then he began to laugh. It was a hysterical, loud laugh. He was already crazy. Talking to himself as if he could actually respond with a response that mattered and that he didn't already know about. This brought on more laughter until he was clutching his sides on the floor. This was how Harry Potter found him.

"I'm going mental." Remus told him after a long bout of even more hysterical laughter after spotting him.

"I can see that, Remus." Harry said, shaking his head.

Remus gave him a glare. "Why are you here anyway?"

"That is the question isn't it? I had to get away. She's driving me crazy." Harry said, shuddering.

Remus laughed, "Ginny?"

"No, Molly. Badgering me to ask her, can't a man get some time to plan the moment out?" Harry said. "I mean I want everything to be perfect but she won't leave me alone and Ginny's getting suspicious."

Harry had decided he wanted to ask Ginny to marry him. Of course being the gentleman that he was he had gone to Mr. Weasley first which meant that Mrs. Weasley knew of the matter as well. Harry had talked about it to Remus on the many stops he had made to the bookshop to get away from his soon to be in-laws. Molly had been telling him to do it already, nudging and trying to get him to pop the question at any time she and Ginny were in his company which was often. How she managed that was beyond him.

"Then ask—" Remus began but the doorbell rang so he headed to the door to get it.

Darren stood there. "Hello, Remus," he said. "I have come to drop some stuff off for Hermione. She wanted me to bring it along later today but I can't. Isabella, my mate, wants me to go somewhere with her and I will be occupied. Tell her I'll be in touch. Thanks you. She speaks, highly of you, you know."

And then he was gone, leaving a box behind.

"Who was that?" Harry asked.

"Darren." Remus said.

Harry looked confused, "who's that?"

"A friend of Hermione's," Remus said. "Anyways when will you ask her?"

"Soon, I was thinking of doing it in two weeks. It would be the anniversary of when we got together again after the final battle. I just can't stand her family too much right now."

Remus laughed, "Understandable."

"Let's change the subject now." Harry said. "What would you think about starting to date again? It's been two years, now."

Remus was startled by this question. He had never thought of dating again. He had everything he wanted. He didn't need to be out there dating. Before Tonks he had never dated because of his "furry little problem" and now he had Hermione. But Hermione was just a friend, just a friend.

"I don't think I will. I have Teddy and I like the way things are right now." Remus said.

Harry eyed him, wondering about the werewolf and his best friend.

-

-

-

Hermione entered the kitchen with Teddy in her arms; she was surprised to find Remus cooking but smiled at the fact that he hadn't burnt anything yet.

"Cooking, eh." She said. "I hope that stuff stays as it is."

Remus grinned at her and then ruffled Teddy's hair. "Harry is helping with the cooking. He said he didn't want you to arrive and find the kitchen on fire."

Hermione laughed, "Thank god for that." She said, as Harry entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Hermione," he said. "Hello, Teddy."

Teddy gave a small laugh and reached for Harry, who took him and twirled him around the room before handing him back to Hermione and continuing to assist Remus with the cooking.

"I have something for you, Remus." Hermione said after a while of watching them cook.

"I can finish up, here." Harry said. "You can get your surprise."

Remus looked at Harry, "are you sure?"

Harry nodded. He just wanted to see how they interacted with one another when alone. Harry had been noticing things for months between his two friends but he had never mentioned anything.

"Let's go to the drawing room." Hermione said.

Remus followed with Teddy, wondering what she could have gotten him and why she had done so in the first place. When he sat down on the couch with his son on his lap he looked at Hermione who had a thin, square box. She handed it to him.

Remus opened the box and gasped. It was a children's book. What had made him gasp was the name of the author. She had written a book.

"I'm working on a novel now, but this was something I told Teddy and I wrote it down and then Darren read it and he said he wanted to find someone to publish it and he did. Open it." Hermione sat down next to him.

Remus took the book and opened it. The second page was where he stopped.

For:

Remus who encouraged my writing

And

Teddy who first heard this story

He looked at Hermione. "You didn't have to dedicate it to us." He said.

"I wanted to," she smiled at him. "I wouldn't have been able to write this if it wasn't for you and Teddy."

Remus put the book back in its box and then onto the floor. Teddy looked at Hermione, "down" he said. Remus set him down on the floor. Teddy walked away as if he had known that his father and Hermione needed some time alone.

Hermione looked after him. "He was my inspiration." She said.

"I would figure he could inspire you." Remus gave half hearted laugh.

The two of them sat quietly for a moment and then, "I always wanted to write but after entering the wizarding world I felt it wouldn't be enough and I wanted to do other things but it always came back to writing. This is what I always wanted but I also wanted to make a difference."

"You can." Remus said.

Hermione smiled. "I guess. We should go back to the kitchen."

Remus nodded but neither stood up. Finally Remus stood and offered Hermione his hand. He pulled her up. "You were talking about a novel earlier. Tell me all about it."

Hermione had been ready to burst about her newest writing piece for a while now but she didn't want to give herself away. She hadn't told anyone yet knowing that the only person she wanted to tell was Remus.

"I'll explain everything to you." She said, smiling. "You would be so surprised how good it feels to be able to say something about it."

Remus looked at her smile and couldn't help but return it with a smile of his own. Hermione had made him realize something and along with what Harry had said earlier made him wonder about how much he depended on Hermione. He cared about her, he had already admitted to that but now, thinking about how much he would suffer if she wasn't around and how she considered his opinion important, he wondered if maybe it was more than just caring and instead love.

Harry was putting the finishing touches to his cooking. "Ginny just owled me." He said when they joined him. "Has Teddy never seen an owl?"

"No, why, did he get scared?"

"No, he was a little overjoyed." Harry laughed.

-

-

-

"I'll see you two later." Remus said, caressing Teddy's cheek and kissing Hermione on the cheek.

Hermione nodded and watched him go. She had seen a change in him and how he treated her in the last week. It had been confusing and odd the way he sometimes just stared at her for long periods of time or how he was always touching her in some way; holding her hand when they walked along in Diagon Alley, or putting his hand on her back when walking next to her, or wrapping his arms around her for no apparent reason. He was always reaching over to her while they ate dinner to wipe crumbs off her face or just to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. It wasn't that she didn't like the attention she got from him but she found it a little odd that he had begun to act like this.

"Okay." Hermione said. "See you later. Harry might be joining us. He said he was coming over."

"Alright," Remus smiled at her and then apparated to the bookshop.

Hermione looked over at Teddy, "something's up with your daddy, little one, I really want to know what that is."

-

-

-

"Minerva sent me a letter today." Remus said.

They; Hermione, Teddy, and Remus were eating a light lunch in the bookshop. Remus had just brought it for them from

"What did she want?" Hermione asked, feeding Teddy.

"She wants me to come back and teach defence." Remus said. "I don't know if I should. I know the bookstore makes a good profit but, I don't know maybe I should take it."

Hermione frowned, "what about Teddy?"

"He would come with me." Remus said.

Hermione felt tears in her eyes, "then what about the fact that Teddy needs me. I love him and I will never be able to just go back to normal, not seeing him everyday. How will he feel? He loves me as well. I am his mother for all that there is."

"Yes, and I understand that. We could come up with a number of things. I could live with you and Teddy. You can be with him and I will see him mornings, nights; weekends." He said.

Hermione shook her head at this. "He would hate it, I would hate it. Things are good for us right now. You spend a lot of time with Teddy. You bring him here, you sometimes leave the shop with me and spend days with him. You eat lunch with him on most days, you're always there and you are his father, you have a right to do this, I do not, but I love him like a son."

"The two of you could move to Hogwarts." Remus said, then.

Hermione shook her head and then began to cry. "I am nothing more than your nanny, an au pair and I guess this is the way we part ways. I will look after your house and the bookstore until I finish my book and then I shall leave you alone."

Remus took her hand, trying to comfort her but Hermione was already standing and walking towards the door. Teddy gave a cry of, "Mommy" and Hermione looked back at him.

-

-

-

Hermione arrived at the house to find it quiet, subdued; different from how it usually way. She saw a light in the kitchen but didn't approach it. She wasn't in the best of moods, even a day after the fact, and she didn't want to see Remus quite yet. However as soon as the door was closed behind her she heard the small scuffle of feet and then Teddy was hugging her around the legs and muttering, "up, Mommy" with a small smile.

Hermione picked him up and he wrapped his arms around her neck, putting his face on the crook of her next. "I missed you." Teddy said.

Hermione smiled and said, "me too."

It didn't take long for Teddy to fall asleep in her arms. As soon as he had done so Hermione found herself looking at Remus. He stood by the entrance to the kitchen looking at her.

"He didn't sleep at all since you left." Remus told her. "He was crying too and it broke my heart. I haven't slept either. I don't think we, either of us could ever live without you. You are so much more than a simple nanny."

Hermione said nothing, taking in his outlook. Remus hadn't shaved yet and still wore the same clothes as the day before. He wasn't as bad as the first time she had seen him but this had affected him, her leaving. Maybe now he could reconsider taking the teaching job.

"I'll go put him to bed." Hermione said.

Remus nodded but instead of going to the kitchen followed to Teddy's room. Teddy no longer slept in a crib but he did have a magical field around his bed which would not allow him to fall out of. Hermione changed his clothes with her wand, so as to not wake him, and then she kissed his forehead. "I love you, little one." She said to him before walking towards the door. Remus did not let her pass him by.

"That is what I see everyday, the love you put into everything you do with him. One thing I always wanted to do was teach. I love it and it's because of this reason that I was trying to find a way to do it but if it is going to hurt Teddy I will not take that job." Remus said.

"You should take it. I'm being somewhat selfish, aren't I? I'm not more than your friend and his acting mother but if you want to do it, go ahead." Hermione said.

Remus shook his head. "Teddy loves you; he needs you in his life. He was a mess yesterday after you left. How bad will it be if he doesn't see you everyday?"

Hermione shook her head "then what?" she asked. "What will you do?"

"You matter to me, you know. You matter a lot. I—" Remus moved closer to her and grasped her by the shoulders. He leaned his head down and pressed his forehead to hers.

Hermione gasped when he continued on to cup her face in his hands. She stood there with him for what seemed like forever. Neither of them spoke and just stayed as they were. He leaned closer to her to see how she would react and then kissed her on the lips. Her lips were soft and she tasted a little bit of the chocolate she had been drinking earlier. At first she did not kiss him back out of surprise, but then her lips were moving against his and her arms were around his waist and she was pressed up against him while his arms moved to wound up around her.

They pulled away when the need for air was too eminent and they stood once more with their arms around each other and their foreheads together.

"I would never wish for you to leave me. I need you in my life, Hermione." Remus said after a long silence. "I love you."

Hermione smiled, "I love you too. When you said all of that about the position offered to you I was so worried you would just leave me and that Teddy would forget I was ever in his life."

"He'll never forget you. We need you, my dear." Remus said, grinning and kissing her softly once more.

"What will we do then?" Hermione asked.

"I've been thinking about that." Remus said. "I don't think I could stand not seeing either of you for long periods of time so what I was thinking was, the three of us could move into Hogwarts. You can look after the bookshop while you write. I know you have written quite a bit there. You can take Teddy with you some of those days and I will keep Teddy with me at Hogwarts on others. You don't have to be at there all the time so you can be with us as well and we could come back here weekends."

Hermione smiled again and reached up to his him. "Yes, that will work just fine." She said.

Remus grinned, "We have about a month left until we need to move to Hogwarts."

"You already talked to Minerva?" Hermione asked, surprised. "You were so sure I would say yes."

Remus nodded. "You wouldn't have been that upset if you hadn't felt anything for me. I was wondering about that, how you felt about me. I had hoped the same as I did and when I saw you yesterday I knew but you just ran out so fast."

Hermione had gone to 12 Grimmauld place after leaving Remus and Teddy behind. She hadn't talked to anyone—Harry, Ron, and Ginny had asked her to talk to them—instead she had just gone to her old room and gotten thoroughly drunk while thinking about Remus and Teddy. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the thought of losing them but Hermione finally admitted to herself that she was in love with Remus. It was simply because of this reason that she had gone back to them.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Hermione said. "I just didn't want to lose you and Teddy and I was really upset."

"I know." Remus muttered into her hair. "I'll never leave you and for that matter Teddy. He loves you too much. I love you too much to ever let someone as wonderful as you go." He kissed her temple.

Hermione closed her eyes and just leaned against him, content. They said nothing but just stood their in the doorway to Teddy's room stealing kisses from one another.

-

-

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; while loving deeply gives you courage. – Lau Tzu

-

-

"We are lucky to have destroyed Lord Voldemort." Hermione said. "However, if we do not prevent things from happening other dark lords will rise. Other outcasts and unwanted people will wish to have power. Power is something that can lead even the best people down a wrong path. It is tempting and will always lead to trouble."

It was the day before the full moon. Hermione always took Remus' classes the two days before the full moon, the full moon, and the two days after the full moon. Remus suffered worst than she did. Where she could be up and about going about her normal life even on the day of the full moon he could not.

"Mommy!" cried Teddy from where he sat overseeing the class atop his father's desk.

Hermione picked up the toddler and continued to walk around the room. "We must not fear ambition but we must restrain ourselves to what is right and not what is easy." She continued. "Today we will be just reading the next chapter in your books. It talks about evil and power. I expect a three foot essay about any topic discussed within the reading that you feel should be discussed."

Teddy wiggled around in her arms so Hermione put him down, watching him closely as well as the seventh year students. Soon she was at the front of the classroom. Teddy had joined her and reached to be put back on top of the desk. Hermione put him back up just as the door opened. Hermione knew who it was without even turning.

"Hermione," Remus said. "I was just thinking."

Hermione smelt it coming off of him—fear; eagerness; want; love.

"I love you and I've been meaning to do this for a while and I was just sitting there and I wanted to do it at this moment. I love you and I would be honoured if you would be my wife."

Hermione gasped. He was there in front of her on one knee asking her to marry him.

"Yes!" she said, grinning from ear to ear.

Remus got off from the floor and gathered her up in his arms. Hermione was crying and kissing him all over. Remus pulled away from her a moment before kissing her hard; Hermione responding with the same ferocity and then the two of them pulling away only for as long as it took for Remus to slip the ring onto her finger because soon they were kissing again.

The entire seventh year class was clapping and on its feet. Everyone at Hogwarts loved professor Lupin and his son, they also loved Hermione. Many of the girls often went to her for advice about anything, some of the boys even. Everyone at Hogwarts also knew that while Teddy treated Hermione like she was his mother Hermione wasn't but she was dating his father and it was apparent she had helped in raising him.

Outside in the hallway Professor McGonagall stopped when she heard all the cheering and entered the defence against the dark arts classroom to see a dishevelled Hermione being hugged by four girls from her class while Teddy threw pieces of parchment over everyone from where he stood on the desk and Remus was clapped on the back by a few students.

"What is going on here?" McGonagall asked.

"Remus asked me to marry him!" Hermione squealed.

-

-

-

The wedding was small with only friends and family present and happening in their own small backyard. Teddy stayed with his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, while Hermione and Remus went to Rome for their honey moon. Remus continued his work in Hogwarts after they came back and Hermione continued on with the bookstore and her writing. Teddy grew just as fast as ever and just as convinced that Hermione was his mother.

Hermione and Remus had two children together. A girl named Nymphadora, after Remus' late wife and a son named Sirius. Sirius was a lot like his namesake; he was as mischievous as the marauders had been put together; he was also very handsome and attracted a lot of attention from women. Nymphadora was unlike Remus' first wife. She liked her name and was honoured to be named after someone his father had loved greatly at one point. She was very like Hermione in both looks and personality.

Teddy loved his siblings and never once felt that they were treated differently by Hermione but then she had been his mother even while not biologically. They were all happy family and all of them found love in some way or another.

Teddy married a girl named Victorie, the daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley; they had two children and were very happy together. Hermione had feared they wouldn't be able to have children but Bill had been bitten—in a way—by a werewolf and even then Teddy wasn't a pure-bred Loup Garou. His children were both werewolves.

Nymphadora on the other hand never married her love though she was always with him until his last living days. She outlived even her parents and became the greatest headmistress Hogwarts ever had, not counting Dumbledore of course. She lived to be two hundred and died of natural causes. She was a brilliant celebrated witch. She had no children but doted on her nephews and nieces to whom she left everything she had to. Nymphadora became the lady of Hermione's pack. She was a powerful Loup Garou. She fell in love with someone that was not her kind which was reason for much heart ache on her part.

Sirius was a bachelor until he met his match at the age of forty in Lily Potter. The two of them fought quite like a certain Lily and James Potter but in the end the two of them did love each other and when Lily died in a potions accident only five years after their marriage leaving Sirius and their daughter behind Sirius changed for the better. He like his father found his second love in Rose Weasley the daughter of Ron and Lavender Weasley. He and Rose had no children. Sirius was not born with Loup Garou genes.

Remus and Hermione Lupin loved each other unconditionally. Remus never forgot Nymphadora and Hermione never wanted him to for her sake. He also never stopped loving her but the pain that had once scared him about thinking of her was dull and void. Remus had discovered time was a healer of all wounds. He had been healed by Hermione when she entered his house and gave him the one thing he needed the most…

Love.

****


End file.
